In an address to the United States, American President George Bush last night unveiled what he called a new strategy on the War on Terror, one he said would 'help us succeed' in Iraq.

It was also the first time that President Bush spoke of setbacks in the course he set for his nation since the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. 'When mistakes happen, the responsibility rests with me,' he said.

As part of his new strategy President Bush committed to sending 20,000 more American troops to Iraq, most of them for Baghdad, for what he called a 'holding operation'. Previously, he said, while the American and Iraqi troops cleared a neighbourhood of rebel elements and moved on, the latter returned. Now on, it won't be allowed to happen.

It won't be successful from the word go, he cautioned his nation. 'The new strategy will not yield an immediate end to suicide bombings, assassinations, or IED attacks. Our enemies in Iraq will make every effort to ensure that our television screens are filled with images of death and suffering. Yet over time, we can expect to see Iraqi troops chasing down murderers, fewer brazen acts of terror, and growing trust and cooperation from Baghdad's residents.'

The United States will also increase the embedding of American advisers in Iraqi Army units, and partner a coalition brigade with every Iraqi Army division. It will also assist the Iraqis in building a larger and better-equipped army, speed up the training of Iraqi forces. There will also be greater flexibility to spend funds for economic assistance, and the US will double the number of provincial reconstruction teams which bring together military and civilian experts to help local Iraqi communities pursue reconciliation, strengthen the moderates, and speed the transition to Iraqi self-reliance, President Bush added.

Alongside, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will soon appoint a reconstruction coordinator in Baghdad to ensure better results for economic assistance being spent in Iraq.

Bush also said America's commitment to Iraq is not open-ended. 'If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people -- and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act,' he said.

Cautioning that the Al Qaeda is still active in Iraq, Bush said with its home base was in Anbar Province, which it made the most violent area of Iraq outside Baghdad. 'A captured Al Qaeda document describes the terrorists' plan to infiltrate and seize control of the province. This would bring al Qaeda closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks on the United States at home and abroad.'

The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are without conscience, Bush told his country, and they will make the year ahead bloody and violent. 'Even if our new strategy works exactly as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue -- and we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties. The question is whether our new strategy will bring us closer to success. I believe that it will.'

Defining what this success in the War of Terror will not be, Bush said victory will not look like 'the ones our fathers and grandfathers achieved'. There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship. 'But victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world -- a functioning democracy that polices its territory, upholds the rule of law, respects fundamental human liberties, and answers to its people.'